Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock

Magnum – Wings of Heaven (Review)

27 Comments
Magnum - Wings of Heaven (1988)
Magnum – Wings of Heaven (1988)

Chase the Dragon and On a Storyteller’s Night are the sturdier, rockier picks of the Magnum back catalogue but they reached their peak of life-affirming, pop rock joy with Wings of Heaven: one of the most feelgood albums ever created. Tony Clarkin writing simple, catchy AOR rockers par excellence delivered with winning passion and panache by the ever-lovable Bob Catley. Boaby sings like he would take bullets for Magnum. “It’s a flame that keeps burning… everLASTing torrrchhhh!”, “Too old to die young, too big to cry… MAMA!” The guy’s a total hero. As soon as he chimes in on genius opener Days of No Trust (“Pray to the future…”) you are on your feet. The album continues with the vista of Wild Swan and the sublime power pop of Start Talking Love. Classics all. Different Worlds is a mid-album lull but Pray for the Day and the WWI epic Don’t Wake the Lion (Too Old to Die Young) end the album with weight and compassion: breathtaking, heartrending but still triumphant, mighty and melodic. It’s a colossal climax to an excellent album. File this in your collection alongside your Jovi, Lep and Whitesnake and it won’t be long before it steals your heart. A heavenly magnum opus.

[Magnum – Days of No Trust]

27 thoughts on “Magnum – Wings of Heaven (Review)”

      1. I didn’t guess that from the name! I never heard of Magnum until well after I started at the record store. One guy traded in a bunch of CDs by Boaby Cately, whom I had never heard of. I think on the front cover he was standing in front of a castle. Guarding it, I would imagine.

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  6. Cool review of a band I’d never heard of either (I’m with Bop). After just playing DL’s Vault, not sure I need more of this stuff in my life right now but hey, one never knows!

    Two metal horns up for new HMO content!

    \m/ 🙂 \m/

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  7. People never heard of Magnum?! Savages from the other side of the world, I say!

    Being the trivial person I am, the cover of this one always put me off it, a bit too windswept for my tastes.

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  8. I often see Magnum albums but always thought they’d be a bit … y’know … heavy and maybe cheesy heavy. But seems I was wrong!! Though I couldn’t file it next to Jovi, cause that means I’d be immediately chucking this in the bin! Ha!

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    1. Well, they don’t really sound like any of those bands… but they’re in that pop metal territory. You could call it cheesy but I prefer to call it a thoroughly good time! I’d start with the other two albums I mentioned first though if you’d rather it was a bit rockier.

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      1. Duly noted – I’m fairly certain the Record Fayre often has some of their LPs … though I do like the album cover for this one. I need that in my collection.

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